Lauren Brady, Author at REALTIME

Have you met Callum?

Tell me a little bit about yourself?

Hi. My name is Callum. I’m (one of) the newest members of the team here at REALTIME working on the video game side of the business.

Originally from down south, I went to Newcastle University to study philosophy. I’ve always had an interest in pop culture, which heavily influenced my studies. In my first year I wrote a dissertation on the parallels between Nietzsche’s eternal return and the respawn mechanic in videogames, and in my second year I wrote a dissertation about The Comedian (Watchmen) and the ethics of World Historical Individuals.

I ended up falling into marketing. I spent the first couple of years working in the North West, eventually moving down to London to join my first media agency. Over the course of the next 4 years I managed media partnerships and sponsorships on behalf of some really great brands, with some of the campaigns I managed winning awards along the way.

Up until that point I had focused on client servicing and the commercial aspects of account management, but I was increasingly finding myself more involved in developing the creative for campaigns, which I really enjoyed. So, decided to take a break from my career to study creative strategy and graphic design.

I have finally landed here, and I’m loving it so far!

My interests, much like my background, is very diverse. I’ve always enjoyed playing sport, and until recently coached and played rugby at my local club. I love nerdy stuff too, watching anime, reading manga, collecting Warhammer 40k, etc

What’s your role at REALTIME?

To work with video game creators to produce amazing creative that excites and engages their audience.

What have you learnt about REALTIME since joining?

I’ve wanted to work here for a while, as I’ve always been impressed by the quality of work that the team have produced. Since working here, I have learnt that on top of everyone being so skilled and professional, the office is really friendly. It feels like the perfect mix!

What made you want to get into the video games industry?

I’ve always enjoyed gaming, from the early days of playing Ghostbusters on the Snes. Currently I’m lucky in that I have a PS4 and an Xbox One, which I get to play pretty regularly.

As I’ve developed over the course of my career though, I have come to see video games as another avenue to tell stories that grip people.

Games are full of great storylines, heroes, and villains. What makes it even better is that by nature of what they are, you have some input in how these stories end.

So, what does an average day at work consist of for you?

One of the great things about working at REALTIME is that my days are so varied. One day I could be organising a video call with a potential new client, the next I could be working with our creatives on a pitch. There isn’t really an average day!

What’s been your favourite project to work on and the one that you are most proud of?

I’m still relatively new, so I’m just enjoying being a part of the creative process and working on pitches. We have some really creatively gifted people who work here, so it is just cool getting to work closely with them.

If I had to pick a project I worked on previously it would either have to be the Channel 4 partnership for the Lego Batman film, or the RNLI partnership with Ladbible.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced and how did you get around it?

For me, it’s not really a one-off challenge, it’s more about the general approach to creating something cool. Striking the balance between producing something that can meet commercial goals, whilst also maintaining an editorial voice is difficult. However, it is essential to be able to tread this line in-order to create something that people actually want to engage with, and will meet business goals.

What have you learned since you have been working here?

Although I have always had an interest in video games, I’ve never been had the technical knowledge as to how things are produced. Every day is a school day at the moment. Learning about how we create both pre-rendered and in-engine trailers is fascinating. As mentioned already, the team are so skilled, it’s great getting the chance to sit with them and watch them work.

Are there any upcoming things in the industry you think people need to keep an eye out for?

#RaiseTheGame is an awesome initiative in the UK to increase diversity and improve inclusion in video games. I think that it can only be a positive thing for our industry and have a real impact on the quality of the games that are produced. You can read a bit more about it here: https://raisethegame.com/

Tell me a fun fact about yourself?

I got to play rugby at Twickenham stadium #famous #eliteathlete #allthegearnoidea

If you have an upcoming project and want to discuss it, or just want to talk about how you defeat the final boss in Sekiro (damn you Isshin, the Sword Saint) you can get in touch with me at [email protected] or on 07912877293.

Getting a job in the industry!

Getting a job in the animation/VFX industry from REALTIME’s Pete Leonard

So, you’ve found a job on our website that you think you’d be perfect for, or maybe you’ve been following us long enough to know we are the right company for you. Great stuff!

Thing is, just how do you (best) go about getting a gig here?

I think I can help!

There’s an inexhaustible number of tips, advice and information out there on what you can do, so I’m going to break this down into chunks so it’s a bit more digestible and useful.

MAKE THE APPLICATION

Well that figures of course – until we become clairvoyants, but that’s some way off.

In the meantime, there are a number of core elements that we’d advise here at REALTIME to grab the interest of the hiring managers and get yourself considered.

Be clear on your specialism – It’s a good place to start and feeds well into your next career objective. The team is broken into different departments and simply seeing that someone is (for example) a professional CG Lighter will stand out more than someone who is less clear about their primary area of expertise.
Show your Enthusiasm and Attitude – In the content of your email, don’t forget show yourself off! We pride ourselves on creating a fun, hardworking culture. Are you the type of person who comes to work with a smile and stays the extra half hour if needed? Give us an example…
Link your (best) work/showreel – this will be the biggest thing we go off in terms of your suitability. Regardless of education, experience or anything else, THIS supersedes everything. So, make it great ?
Tell us about yourself… no really! – We’re interested! We will be spending a lot of time with each other so it’d be grand if we know something about why you work in CG, what your interests are, and more. This can be at the top of your CV, a cover letter or some other cool little way of presenting yourself (hint hint), but naturally it’s important for both of us so we can fit.
Attention grabbing CV – it doesn’t have to look like that cool flyer you saw last week (although that would be nice), but be sure to quickly and concisely present your objective (what you’re looking for) and your core skills (packages and CG focus) – it doesn’t have to be long either (2 pages is more than enough). Run it by others to get a second opinion, but this is your elevator pitch, so be sure it’s impactful.
Why us? – Sounds obvious but if you want to work here, we want to know why. It helps us understand what interests you about our company and why you’d be a good fit.

OK, BUT WHAT KIND OF SHOWREEL GRABS YOUR ATTENTION?

Good question – here’s some tips on that:

Relevant examples – like many studios we have carved out a niche in game cinematics (pre-rendered, and real-time) and Automotive. So, we do need to see some images or trailers of work that is commensurate with our projects. The world of CG is vast, and we need people who have some understanding of that niche we operate in. The reel is your best way to exhibit this.
Quality! – Over quantity. Every time. We spend quite a lot of time on our shots providing them with a final look, feel and finesse. Which requires dedication, a good eye for detail and composition, and perseverance. We need to see at least a couple of examples that show the same commitment and approach. Don’t be afraid to cut content – if it doesn’t show you at your best, then less is definitely more. Remember older work can flesh out your reel, but it can also make one of us ask how good your eye is, and why you’ve kept it in there…
Breakdowns – These are so useful! Whether it’s wireframes, layers & comp passes, texture maps/wraps, it all helps, as well as just having the finished article. If you’ve perused our site long enough, you will see we have breakdowns of projects like SMITE and Dropzone in areas such as VFX and Animation. It allows people to see how we delivered the end product. If we can see how you got to yours, it tells us a great deal about your process and approach. A picture paints a thousand words, n’all that.
State your contributions – For large scale projects and professional shots, there are many pairs of hands that come together to create the end result. So, a simple statement about what you did in each shot allows us to focus on the right areas and judge your work more fairly. It does you justice and saves us time. We like that (so thank you?).

GREAT, I GOT AN INTERVIEW!

Top banana! We are particular about the kind of things we look for in applications and reels, so you’ve shown real promise – let’s not fall at this hurdle.

Set goals and prepare – It doesn’t have to be a bucket list but think logically about what you want to express to us. What is your greatest asset as an artist, or producer, or whatever? What strengths will you bring to REALTIME that we could use? Think about what you want to get across so that you will be well prepared.
Practice – If you’re super comfortable at interview then very well done – 95% of the population is very jealous?. For the rest of us, we have to have a plan of how we are going to present ourselves. But you’ve set goals so you can practice how to communicate your abilities. You HAVE set goals right?
Be yourself – Easier said than done for most (including me). We all have strengths, development areas and our own quirks. So, feel comfortable in being open on these – we’ll appreciate the openness and honesty, we’ll be able to connect with you a bit more, but most importantly: YOU’LL feel more confident and at ease. Anyway, we are a bit eclectic ourselves, so you’ll be in good company.
Be Passionate – Speaks for itself. People do this job for the love of it! So, we need you to show us what makes you love what you do.
Bring any extras you like – That can be a laptop or flash pen with WIP shots you wish to talk us through, a simulation in Houdini you are experimenting with, or weekend classes engaged in landscape or life drawing – it all helps and will provide some further insight into your passions, and how you communicate – we do a LOT of that in the boardroom anyway so best to get used to it.
Questions – It’s a 2-way street and you are choosing us as much as we are choosing you. So, questions are not only welcomed, but we consider them essential and we won’t be able to take you as seriously if you don’t have any for us, about our company, work or future direction.

THANKS… ANY LAST WORDS?

Just a few:

Get organised – you’d be surprised how many people can fail to plan their trip or arrive in a timely fashion. This is your first impression so best to plan your trip and account for potential obstacles (within reason of course).
Research – Find out as much as you can about us beyond what you already know. Our Marketing Manager gets a ton of stuff out there on our Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and Twitter as well as our website so be sure to use them to glean as much about us and our activities as you can. It really helps at interview and avoids those awkward silences. Result!
Booted and Suited? – You can come in a suit if you want, but it’s not required, and the dress code is casual in our studio. I’d say strike a balance. Casual is fine but pick out some of your smarter options.

Pete always makes time to give proper feedback to applicants, so why not have a look at our careers and drop him your showreel on [email protected]

GDC 2020 – Were they right to cancel?

One of the biggest events in the Games Industry calendar, GDC, has been cancelled. The Games Developer Conference is arguably the beating heart of the industry and, with only two weeks to go its developers have decided to pull the plug in light of the risks that the spread of the Coronavirus may pose. Last year there were over 26,000 attendees to the event, all descending onto San Francisco from the furthest reaches of the planet to attend talks, learn, network, inspire and generally further the craft of games development. But have the organisers perhaps been a little over cautious in cancelling the event, and just why is GDC so important to the industry?

No-one can escape the headlines surrounding Coronavirus, or the more sinister sounding COVID-19 as it is fast becoming referred to in the media. Switch on the TV or open a newspaper and you’ll find plenty of references to ‘pandemic’ and ‘outbreaks’. Indeed, it all sounds like the plot of a Resident Evil game with the end of the world an inevitability, even though the spread of the virus itself is still (thankfully, at the time of writing) largely contained. From reading the apocalyptic headlines, you could be forgiven for thinking that if GDC were to go ahead, the streets of San Francisco would be filled with roaming zombies – spaced out marauders on the verge of collapse; wandering aimlessly without purpose and in need of shelter. Whereas, anyone with any familiarity with the streets surrounding Union Square will know that this scenario is already a grim reality already. – where homelessness and social problems on the streets are a gritty reality for many already.

Regardless, the organisers of GDC have had to tread a very careful line in weighing up the many benefits that the show brings versus the very real risks of contagion. It’s no mean feat – The event has been many months in the making with many man hours of organising potentially wasted. To some degree, their hands were forced in the days running up to the announcement, with major sponsors including Microsoft, Facebook, Unity, Epic, Sony and Amazon all deciding to withdraw from the event. These decisions will not have been easy ones to make as it some of these brands that have helped GDC grow to the stature that the conference currently enjoys. In recent years it has proven to be the perfect platform to unveil new technologies to developers and get their feedback – a ‘sweet spot’ event that avoids the glare of more consumer focused events like E3 yet still big enough to grab the attention of the major developers and publishers in the Industry.

In recent years, the conference has been used to showcase emerging technologies that will continue to have a major influence on the craft of Games Development and Storytelling for a long time to come. Of particular note, Epic Games’ ‘State of Unreal’ keynote speeches have been used to showcase the development and advances in Virtual Filmmaking. These talks are highly anticipated and continue to usher in technologies that are not limited to just Games Development, but the advancement of Film, TV and VFX.

GDC’s importance the industry cannot be overstated. Whilst new technologies remain at the heart of the show, it’s the level to which they are embraced by the thousands of Artists, Animators, Coders and Producers in attendance that ultimately decide their fate. Without their creativity, the content cannot be produced, games developed, or new worlds realised – No matter how good the tools. So, although it’s disappointing that GDC should be cancelled at such a late stage, its undoubtedly the right thing to do.

Sadly, I WON’T be attending GDC this year, but if you want to get in touch to discuss our work in Trailers, Cinematics, Animation or VFX, drop me a line at [email protected].

How to plan the CG elements for your TV show

Welcome back to another blog in our TV VFX for Dummies series. We’re taking a look at the wide world of visual effects, demystifying the scene, breaking down the jargon, and making the process that little bit more approachable. In today’s piece, we’re looking at how to approach the planning of your CGI elements…

The quality of your CGI work will make or break your production. Poor CGI can take a viewer out of the experience, leaving them with a less than favourable view on your show. You don’t want it to become a forgotten piece of media or the joke of the week on Twitter.

A large aspect of creating high-quality CGI assets is planning their integration into the plates you are shooting effectively. We’ve talked about the CG process before in broad strokes. But whether you’re planning to create a CGI hard-bodied asset such as a plane, tank, or car, or something more ambitious and central to your story like a CGI animal or creature, planning how they will be used in your final project from the earliest stages is crucial.

Planning your CGI assets

The entire CG process is a long and complicated one with plenty of technical jargon. But today we’re going to focus on some specific elements that need completing in the early stages of the project.

Creating your characters

This stage is all about developing the overall look for your creature or the world you are trying to create.

If you are creating a creature, you will need to start by visualising how the creature is described in the script. If you are working on a creature or character from a well known book or story, there may be pre-existing ideas of what the creature will look like. In this case you will be working to develop something based on the clients existing ideas for the creature.

If there are no existing drawings of the creature, or you are working on an original series you will be collaborating with your clients Showrunners, Producers, Writers and Production Designers to help create something that works for the story and the aesthetic of the show. The creative team will need a concept of what the creature looks like and how it might behave in a scene before they commit to filming. Ideally you do this work in pre-production, when your clients creative team have time to give feedback on your design work.

One of the first things you need to do is lay out some initial character designs in concept art. These sketches help visualise the character or creature you are trying to create. If you are creating a mythical creature of some kind, such as a Dragon or Elf, it is often also helpful to assemble mood boards with reference images of other Dragons or Elfs from other series or films to help inform the design process. Clients will often want to steer away from designs that already exist and reference images can help the VFX studio refine the design approach for the creature. You need to explore different options to find something that matches the overall tone and vision of the creative leads of the production.

Ultimately, it will come down to the showrunner, producers, writers and director or production designer to feedback on these early designs to start shaping what the final creature or character will look like. In feature film work, you will be driven by the production’s own concept artists and designers, whereas in episodic television, a VFX studio’s own creative teams can collaborate with the production’s in-house creative teams to develop creature and character ideas.

Once you have a creature concept your client is happy with, you can move on to creating a 3D sculpt of the character.

Creating your environments

When creating environments, you will often have to create a completely different ‘world’. This could be a medieval village full of magic or a futuristic cyber-punk city. If it’s based on an already-established book series, it might even be somewhere the audience is familiar with.

When developing ideas for different ‘worlds’ it can be very helpful to create concept sketches to visualise any environments you want to create. Again as with creature work, it can be helpful to create mood boards with reference images for what the ‘world’ might look like. Thse can help to clarify design and tone. Often the clients creative team will have reference images and ideas of their own. However they will also be looking to their VFX studio to help visualise the ‘world’ and create it. It is a collaborative process and in episodic TV, clients will tend to lean more creatively on their VFX studio to generate ideas. In feature film production, there tends to be more early design work led by the production.

When you are designing these worlds, you need to think about the entire geography of the city or town and work out where all the different locations are that feature in the scripts. This mapping out of the ‘world’ of your story will help you plan what 3D elements you will need to build and what areas will remain unseen.

If you have a big budget, you will want to see the whole city or town. But if you have budget restrictions, you may only be able to show the key places most relevant to the story. In almost all cases you will want an ‘establisher’ to reveal the environment, but a consideration for making these work is to include characters from your story.

Once you have created some sketches and reference images that meeting your client creative teams approval, you can start to move onto creating 3D environment work to create mock-ups of environments based on approved concept sketches. These can be based on pre-built library stock assets, such Kitbash3D.

If you are working at a higher budget level, tools like Houdini can be used to ‘procedurally’ create whole cities and environments. Houdini can ‘learn’ how to create buildings and props (based on parameters set by a VFX artist) and replicate these buildings and props and place them randomly into cityscapes. It’s for this reason that studio movies increasingly use Houdini to create the worlds they are building – whether they are mythical like Disney’s recent remake of Aladdin, or photo-real, like the depiction of a photo real Philadelphia for a flying fight sequence in Shazam. Both cities and all the related props were creating using Houdini.

Previsualisation

Commonly referred to as simply ‘previs’, this is where you start to see how the asset you are creating will look and move in the final series or film. This is usualy in a full CGI space – with the characters and environment all in greyscale. Previs is commonly used in animation and feature film production, but as high end tv budgets have risen, it also been used in episodic television.

Previs can be a useful tool to help budget and schedule more efficiently. It can be an expensive tool, so it is often best to pick key set piece sequences that are at a budget level that justify the cost. It can also be helpful to create 2D storyboards or animated storyboards of these sequences ahead of commissioning the previs to really determine the visual approach, camera moves and overall shot count of the previs being created.

Previs is a where you can run through several important questions that will affect the final look of the asset or creature you are creating. How big will it look in frame? How quickly will it move? If it is an asset on its own, how does it fit with the world? If it is a CGI crowd member, how will it look when you have 10, 50, or even 100 people?

This won’t be the final look as more work will need to be done on the asset, but you can start to see the visuals come together. At this point, you likely won’t be able to see them in the exact scene as it will be in the finished production. That step comes next.

Postvisualisation

When you have your actual footage, the postvis process will give you a brief look at how the assets and film blend together. Basic grayscale, untextured models can be put onto your actual plates so producers, directors, and executives understand how the asset will behave in a scene.

This is an important part of the process if the asset in question is a key component of the production, as with the tripods in War of the Worlds. Regardless, it is still important to know how the VFX will behave in a shot.

Whether this is a large asset like an alien or something as subtle as the fog or smoke that surrounds a scene, it is crucial you can conceptualise how this will interact with the characters in your story.

CG is so pervasive in TV production today that it can’t be avoided. If you want good-quality VFX work, you need to plan ahead. No matter how subtle it is, it still needs planning and still needs an expert opinion.

If you need CG assets for your TV production, consider REALTIME. Our team are experts on the topic and are more than happy to guide you through the entire process. If you would like to hear more, get in touch with me at [email protected].

What does 2020 have in store for the automotive industry?

What a year 2019 was. In typical fashion, it was one of ups and downs. And that’s just in the automotive industry; the less said about the rest of the world, the better! There was plenty to love for auto fanatics of all types; I myself enjoyed my time at Geneva 2019, Goodwood Festival of Speed, and LA Auto Show to name just a few.

But now we’re in 2020, a year that will no doubt be as unpredictable as those that came before it. From the continuing rise of electric vehicles and fresh, new startup companies to the shifting priorities of consumers, we’re no doubt in for quite a ride.

The customer is always right

The old adage still holds true and the automotive industry will no doubt see a shift into a more consumer-centric approach. I’ve talked before about how the industry needs to change its approach to consumers, especially in regards to its adoption of evolving tech. And the wider market might actually be listening to me!

Brand loyalty is a fickle beast and today’s car shopper is less likely to stick with just one brand. In 2020, I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw people prioritise quality over affordability. This quality goes beyond the car itself and permeates the entire buying process. The most successful brands will be those who can deliver a quality service where people want it, whether that be online or even in a shopping centre. We’re not about to see the death of the dealership, but 2020 should be the year they start to change their approach to consumers.

Going electric

It’s been a trend every year for a while now, but electric vehicles are still a hot topic. No longer the pie-in-the-sky ideas of a select few, we’re starting to see mass adoption of EVs from some of the biggest names in the industry.

The list is expansive: Audi, Aston Martin, BMW, Ford, Honda, Jaguar, Kia, Mercedes, Mini, Peugeot, Porsche – need I go on?

It’s a trend the public is interested in so it allows manufacturers to be environmentally conscious and still make money. Whether we will see another major public interest, autonomous vehicles, make a big impression this year I’m not so sure. My money is on “probably not yet”.

The age of the startup

If you had asked me to predict the future of the industry a year ago, I would have had a lot of good things to say about Dyson’s automotive efforts. They may have been very clandestine, but it was enough to get excited about. Alas, that dream is over. It was, to quote Dyson, “not commercially viable”.

It’s a shame to see as it wasn’t too long ago I was singing their praise. At least they seem to be salvaging something from the project; they will continue their promising work in the battery. And, as they say, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

But other car startups will no doubt have a fantastic year. Tesla will continue to do their thing with their Cybertruck, though we won’t see that hit the roads until 2021 at the earliest.

They aren’t the only fish in the sea though. Chinese manufacturer Byton is releasing their electric SUV in China in 2020, with an expansion to Europe and the US in 2021. Rivian’s R1T will start to hit the road in late-2020. And there’ll be plenty more choice on top of those. And no doubt some newcomers will make themselves known.

Whatever happens, it will be an interesting year. There’s always something unpredictable around the corner. As for me, you will be able to find me at whatever auto show I can find my way into. Roll on the rest of 2020!

At REALTIME, we can’t help but love cars. Nothing excites us more than the new developments that wait around the corner. We channel this passion into everything we do. If you would like to discuss your next project, get in touch with me at [email protected].